The H.P. Lovecraft Museum

More items from my H. P. Lovecraft book collection. (Exhibit 656)

A few more Lovecraft volumes. Some are recent additions to my collection, but others I picked up in the 1970s. (Exhibit 655)

Some of the more recent additions to my Lovecraft book collection. The cover art has become very creative over the years, though not always particularly true to HPL's tales or concepts. (Exhibit 654)

Something we might want to consider about H. P. Lovecraft's now notorious racism: Lovecraft was a virtual unknown in his own time. His origional fiction first appeared only in cheap 'pulp magazine's that specialized in supernatural fiction. These magazines were never particularly popular beyond a small following. Each of them teetered on the brink of bankruptcy nearly their whole publishing history. Lovecraft died a virtual unknown. Until the psycedellic 60s HPL remained a essential unknown. Literary critics, movie producers, and media moguls ignored him. The disgraceful racist comments he made in letters to friends or family were never meant for public consumption or judgement. Lovecraft wrote some repulsive essays concerning race relations in his younger years. But, these never appeared outside pure amateur publications with very tiny circulation. Today Lovecraft is held up as a leading figure of race-hatred in some circles. The recent book and series LOVECRAFT COUNTRY promotes the idea that 'White Racist America' is Lovecraft County. I've never met anyone who was a fan of Lovecraft's fiction who was inspired even slightly by his nutty racial views. Is it possible that HPL has become a convenient pawn in promoting a particular political agenda? I'm afraid that he has and there is nothing I or anybody else can do about it. (Exhibit 653)

One of the major missteps of Lovecraft's later fictional creations -for me at least - was the idea of the Fungi from Yuggoth creatures being pink in color. Maybe I'm shortsighted, but I have a very hard time associating pick with anything horrifying. When I think pink I think of women's makeup, cartoon characters, Hello Kitty, and ANYTHING other than alien monsters! Most of HPL'S other entities were slimy green, grey, pallid white, sallow yellow, or the traditional black in color. What prompted the master to invent crab- mushroom- insects with pink bodies? Of course the 'Fungi' were featured in THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS TALE. Was HPL hoping that he could prove any color could exude horror when presented in the right atmosphere? Well, he failed despite the respectable effort otherwise? (Exhibit 652)

I've explored the idea that H. P. Lovecraft invented a fictional "religion" within the background elements of his stories. If one looks up the general definitions of what qualifies a system of beliefs as a religion HPL'S fictional concepts certainly qualify. Nearly all religions, current and ancient express a 'creation myth'. Lovecraft's stories hint at such a thing but the references are vauge. In THE FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH series of sonnets, however, a very brief but defined explanation of how our 'space/time continuum' and all conceivable others come into being. The sonnet is titled AZATHOTH and certainly Azathoth, often called Chaos by HPL as well, is the creator of all reality. Azathoth is a 'mindless' creative force. He/it is probably the destroyer of all he creates as well. Such a concept has more in common perhaps with Eastern religious beliefs than Western ones. For religious texts reflecting the old testament, in significance HPL gives us the Pnakotic Manuscripts and of course The Necronomicon. For prophets we have Abdul Alhazred. For spoken rituals we are given the ceremony recorded in THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS. There are numerous other examples of how and why Lovecraft's concepts qualify as a religion, but these are perhaps the most important ones. I will admit that this 'relgion building' by Lovecraft did not come into his mind all at once. The evidence suggests that creating a cohesive all-encompassing religion was not a conscious effort by Lovecraft before 1930 (he would have been about 40 at the time). So why do it? Was he inventing a religion to 'mock' all religions? Did he do it just to show us how pathetic and miserably false all our historic attempts to find God have been? Maybe? On the other hand was 'religion creating' by Lovecraft a personal 'game', a bit of fantasy played by a person who was a lifelong seeker of existential truth? Making up a 'toy' religion, even an horrific one might have meant something for a man who loved 'continuity'. (Exhibit 651)

One might ask: Why does a confirmed rationalist, a man with zero belief in God, or the concept of an eternal soul, a person who believed that there is not now or ever has been a supernatural event, seem obsessed with the idea of creating a false religion? Lovecraft's letters on the subject of religious beliefs, the occult, or ANY deviation from what is considered "natural law" were definative. For Lovecraft the confirmed rationalist, belief in the supernatural was just wishful thinking. There was in his studied opinion no evidence to believe in any supernatural phenomena. So why does this hardheaded rationalist spend his whole life exploring such concepts in his fiction? Some have suggested that we don't know everything about the limitations of reality. That might be valid for some, but for Lovecraft his Mechanist/Materialist philosophy did not come casually. HPL studied the subject of what was 'real' deeply,

I've attempted to express one idea regarding Lovecraft's literary achievements with these posts, but perhaps been less than crystal clear in doing so? H. P. Lovecraft, for all his shortcomings as an individual was attempting to define within the background of his life's work a psuedo religion. Understanding or even recognizing that goal has been masked all these years by a false narrative called THE CTHULHU MYTHOS. The very depth and complexity of Lovecraft's fictional religion and the misinterpretation of his creative efforts by others has led us to where we are now. August Derleth respected Lovecraft immensely, he recognized that there was FAR MORE to Lovecraft's work than anyone could grasp at first blush. At the same time he felt that to promote and bring a greater public awareness of Lovecraft's genius that he had to take control of Lovecraft's legacy. To do that he (Derleth) had to promote the idea that he had far greater access to Lovecraft's thoughts and intentions than he really did. Did Derleth make mistakes? Yes, but he was not alone in that. I hope I have done good work to correct the underestimation of HPL. Lovecraft was a genius of incredible depth, he was fascinated by life, yet incredibly disappointed by what he determined in the end to be 'REALITY'. We might see him today as tragic, pathetic, absurdly bookish, and arrogant beyond redemption? Lovecraft was a lost soul (a concept he considered itself unrealistic), a man/child whose view of the world was limited by his own lack of practical experience. Still, Lovecraft beyond it all was a seeker of the ultimate, an individual thirsting for meaning in life. Some might conclude that he was a pathetic loser, but what if his final truth, his conclusion that all is for nothing is also OUR TRUTH too? (Exhibit 649)

In his younger days H. P. Lovecraft was a great fan of the stories about the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Lovecraft invented an imaginary detective agency and he and other boys pretended to investigate neighborhood mysteries while equipped with magnifying glasses and other standard tools of the trade. As an adult it seems that HPL outgrew Doyle's famed detective. In fact no Sherlock Holmes books are listed as part of Lovecraft's personal library. Nonetheless, H. P. Lovecraft shared some fundamental likenesses with Holmes. Like S. H., Lovecraft considered himself an amateur at heart. Holmes only took on cases that appealed to his tastes of the bizzare and grotesque. Holmes sometimes solved cases for free, his "art for art's sake" attitude marked nearly his entire career. In a similar vein Lovecraft for the most part only wrote origional fiction when the mood struck him and when he was particularly inspired to do so for personal reasons. True, he received payment from Weird Tales and a few other pulp magazines for his tales, but his fictional output was never regular enough to earn him a living. HPL thought enough of his stories to want to see them in print, even though he rarely expressed a whole lot of enthusiasm for the works as art once they were completed. Lovecraft was unimpressed with the final product of his work, but it was never his origional intent to produce less than stellar products in the first place. He never endeavored to be a professional hack. Like Sherlock Holmes, Lovecraft considered himself to be a gentleman. Holmes, though fictional, was a loyal Englishman. Lovecraft, who lived all but a few years, in Providence, RI considered him self an Engishman too. (Exhibit 648)

A look at elements from H. P. Lovecraft's tale, THE HOUND: The story begins basically at its ending. The unnamed narrator of the adventure cites "a nightmare whirring and flapping, and a faint, distant baying as of some gigantic hound." The narrator mentions that his current state of creeping peril is not a result of dream or even madness, and such a thing would be a mercy if it were only true. Our protagonist's friend, whom he calls "St. John" is a "mangled corpse" and declares that he will blow out his own brains rather than face the same fate. "shapeless Nemesis" is cited and the narrator goes on to state " May heaven forgive me. . . " (one wonders if our - anti-hero- even believes in 'heaven'?) Certainly Lovecraft himself never did? The Nameless narrator goes on to explain that he and his pal St. John had become gentleman grave robbers. As their hobby evolved they became more and more degenerate. Their obsession with collecting corpses, skulls, and general tomb-loot became a sort of addiction requiring more and more decayed and morbid delvings into the grotesque and forbidden. Despite the nature of their addiction these men considered themselves 'artists' of their trade. They began with an eccentric interest in grotesque art and literature. The Symbolists, a group of artist-types fashionable in the late 1800s are cited. The Pre-Raphaelites and Decadents are mentioned too. The writers Baudelaire and Huysmans are favorites of our dynamic-duo for a brief period, but are soon exhausted of thrills. The pair of graverobber aficionados live in a large stone house, supposedly in London, England. In this house they create their own private 'museum' of the morbid and blasphemous. The artist Goya is mentioned and our pals collect too all manner of musical instruments, some the pair play, producing "dissonances of exquisite morbidity and cacodaemoniacal ghastliness. . . " O.K.? Eventually the pair find themselves in a Holland churchyard. There they dig up a grave and make off with a figurine carved from green jade (Green was one of Lovecraft's favorite colors-colours- in his fiction) and this action seals their fate in the end. THE HOUND was pretty obviously a parody of Doyle's famed Sherlock Holmes tale, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. The St. John character is much like Holmes and the nameless narrator shares more than a few attributes with Dr. John Watson. . . To be continued: (Exhibit 647)

At the age of 14 H. P. Lovecraft wrote a short story about a young man who gets lost in a cave (Mammoth Cave) and becomes seperated from his tour group. In pitch darkness he finds himself being stalked by some unseen creature. The youth picks up a rock, hurls it at the thing approaching him. The tour guide shows up with a flashlight ( electric torch) and the dying creature is revealed to be a semi-human ape covered in white hair. This hairyness is less than one would expect in a true ape of the chimp, gorilla, orangutan type. The story titled THE BEAST IN THE CAVE was textbook Freudian. One might wonder if our youthful and bookish HPL, also a virtual shut-in, suddenly found himself growing hair in areas of his body that he might have found particularly embarrassing. Lovecraft the fatherless boy may have seen his sudden growth of facial hairs as something other than a mark of manhood. Now, even our youthful H. P. Lovecraft (obsessed all his life with the need to project his personal ideals of what a gentleman must be) is proven closer to a great ape than he might ever previously dared consider. Well, in the later tale sometimes titled THE WHITE APE, a refined and gentle fellow whose facial features show marked ape-like attributes finds that he is descended from a human explorer who mated with an unknown species of ape. This ape creature was a princess or goddess among her fellow apes. She is also supposedly white in colour. Now the idea of an ape/human hybrid has been debated by several Lovecraft fans. If one researches the idea a strait answer regarding the possibility of such a thing is very nebulous. Chimps may only share 90% of their DNA with humans, but HPL is suggesting that the ape of the story is nothing currently known to science. So, maybe our ape princess ancestor of the story is far more developed (evolved) than all other known types. Lovecraft occasionally made mention of the possibility that we ( humans) might not indeed be a separate species from some animals. The photo below is of a real woman who was tragically the victim of very bizzare appearance. She was publicly exhibited as a sort of side-show freak. Despite her looks she was a gentle and intelligent individual with a sweet singing voice. (Exhibit 646)

In previous exhibits (posts) here at THE H. P. LOVECRAFT MUSEUM I've explored the idea that Lovecraft intentionally incorporated names for his fictional characters and places from the names of streets, historically significant persons of Providence, RI, and even from the names of people in his own family. The surname Gilman was fairly common in his tales. There is Walter Gilman, the ill-fated youth from THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE, there are also the Gilman hybrid/human family members featured in THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH. There is also the line: "Why do the Gilmans whisper about the way he shrieked -- like a frightened child . . . " in THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP. Such names as Olney, Ward, Angell, Brown, Alert, Bowen, and Upton, might be fairly easy to figure a first source for, but what about 'Gilman'? As it turns out Charlotte Perkins Gilman known for her famed short story of horror THE YELLOW WALLPAPER (1892) was once a neighbor of Lovecraft and his mother in Providence, RI. Lovecraft claimed in letters that his mother was friendly with Gilman when she was governess to a child of the Lovecraft's friends. Bobby Dee has explored the situation in his series DEEP CUTS IN A LOVECRAFTIAN VEIN. Here Lovecraft's claims are revealed to be possible hyperbole, but the fact that Charlotte Perkins Gilman lived close to the Lovecraft residence for a time is indisputable. Gilman is pictured in 2 photos below. Though not a particularly attractive woman she looks a little too much like Lovecraft himself for my tastes in the feminine! (Exhibit 645)

H.P.Lovecraft suggested (as a fiction writer only!) more than a few times that many, and perhaps even MOST instances of madness and insanity in human beings are due to alien influences from beyond human experience or the comprehension of science. In THE TEMPLE a WW1 German U-Boat captain hears laughter coming from outside his sunken submersible craft before he dares to leave it. In THE SHADOW OUT OF TIME a college professor experiences a transfer of his mind into the body of an alien creature that existed millions of years in the past. Other humans who were not sufficiently developed intellectually, but who's minds were temporarily 'probed' by these same alien life-forms would naturally have been deemed 'insane' by their fellow humans. Lovecraft, who experienced a considerable amount of mental health problems in his life (both his parents lost their grip on reality, his father dying insane) might have imagined a supernatural reason for such phenomena on a fictional level. Certainly as a recognized expert (at least today) on the history of supernatural fiction he would have been aware of such themes in literature. Of course insanity is not nonexistent in the animal kingdom, but in the human brain it has the potential for incredible levels of unhinged development. Insane animals don't survive for long in nature. Insane humans are oft-times restrained, treated, protected by family or otherwise able to exist on the fringes. Lovecraft was aware of the work of Sigmund Freud. At various times in his letters he seemed to agree with Freudian ideas that all human endeavor is rooted in sex-drive. At other times HPL seemed to see Freud's theories as short-sighted and intellectually limited. Lovecraft himself suffered occasional bouts of debilitating drepression. One of these 'attacks' was so severe that he was unable to finish high school and never graduated. With typical old-school Yankee reticence he never gave a detailed explanation of these attacks and speculation is probably useless beyond a point. It is worth noting that Lovecraft considered suicide more than once in his letters. How seriously he pondered ending it all is up for debate, but certainly MOST people don't write about such things to others with frequency unless they're serious? The whole idea that humanity is being repressed and limited by alien forces in the cosmos is deftly explored in the late Colin Wilson's masterpiece of hippie-era fiction, THE MIND PARASITES. Wilson, who was extremely critical of Lovecraft's fiction when he first read it, created THE MIND PARASITES on a dare and challenge by August Derleth. Derleth had reviewed Wilson's non-fiction book THE STRENGTH TO DREAM (where Lovecraft was attacked by Wilson viciously) and defied Wilson to create something better. The result was published in hardback by Arkham House and would be reprinted in several editions by other publishers. (Exhibit 644)

POLARIS, written by H. P. Lovecraft in 1918 (HPL would have been 27 at the time) is remarkable for a number of reasons. First of all it was written a year before Lovecraft discovered the stories of Lord Dunsany. It Certainly resembles Dunsany's style considerably. Polaris also includes many important fictional elements that Lovecraft would use in his tales and reference in letters to friends until his death in 1937. In Polaris Lovecraft would introduce the Pnakotic Manuscripts. These then would predate his invention of the more famous and oft - mentioned, 'Necronomicon' of later stories. There are quite a few other fictional phrases included in Polaris that HPL would return to. These include astronomical elements from the 'real world' such as: "glittering Cassiopeia, Charles'Wain, Arcturus, Como Berenices, and "the Pole Star". Lovecraft also cites, "the great Aurora", the shocking corusations of the daemon-light, and "a horned waning moon". Lovecraft had been a devoted amateur astronomer in his younger days. He received his first telescope at age 8 and was later a frequent visitor to the Ladd Observatory near his home in Providence, RI. Lovecraft also mentions "a strange plateau in a hollow betwixt strange peaks" This idea he would later develop as the icy plateau of Leng and the peaks would perhaps become Unknown Kadath. " red Aldebaran", another actual 'heavenly body' would be cited too. For much of the tale the unnamed protagonist would be dreaming. Though not altogether the 'dreamland' fully realized of his later tales POLARIS does include elements that he would use later. Olathoe, the plateau of Sarkis, the peaks of Boron and Kadiphonek, his friend 'Alos', the (city?) Of Daikos, Lomar, Zobna (land or city?) , The cannibal Gnophkehs, the Zobnarian Fathers, the watch-tower of Thapnen, the peak Noton, the valley of Banof. Essentially POLARIS is about a man too physically weak to join the army defending his homeland. He is given the job of being a lookout but falls asleep and fails to warn his compatriots of an invasion by an enemy army. Polaris is certainly a minor effort by the young Lovecraft, but it contains important elements that he would return to with frequency. Certainly the idea of a man failing in his traditional role as warrior and protector of his kith and kin was strong in Polaris. (Exhibit 643)

A pair of softcover classics from the the era of Lovecraft's first major popular fame. To the left is pictured the cover of the 1965 Belmont Publishers edition of Lovecraft's novel, THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD. This was the first printing of the story in softcover. The cover art is hardly what one would expect for a tale of horror. The young man depicted is making a mild expression of disatifaction and looks more like a Ken doll reacting to a 1965 Barbi telling him she does not want to be a housewife but has aspirations to become an astronaut? I could find no credit for the artist. To the right is a 1st paperback edition of the 1971 Ballantine Books printing of H. P. Lovecraft Fungi From Yuggoth & Other Poems. The book contains some engrossing illustrations by Frank Utpatel in black and white. The cover here was the work of Gervasio Gallardo who illustrated quite a few covers of fantasy publications for Ballantine Books. His work in color here is based on Utpatel's origional inks. (Exhibit 642)

H.P. Lovecraft was a self-proclaimed 'Seeker of Absolute Truth'. Though we might get the impression that he was at heart a cold, ultra-rational, and conservative thinker viewing the world from a scientist's perspective, that is and is not altogether true. Lovecraft revealed in his letters that the principles of scientific method were the most acceptable basis that any modern person could use to evaluate the ultimate questions of 'what is Real, what is True, why are we here, what is the meaning of life. Is there an 'end game', and an ultimate reason for 'being'? For Lovecraft, a supremely bookish, infinitely curious, and extremely intelligent individual, the answers were very disappointing. Life for HPL was filled with let-down and limitation. His health, always precarious since childhood, limited his chances for advancement as a productive member of 'normal' society. His odd looks, which grew more and more grotesque as he aged, didn't help him. His high, almost falsetto voice wasn't exactly commanding. His lack of formal education and virtually non-existent job experience for his whole life certainly held him back. Add to these things his family's fall from upper middle class wealth and prestige, the death of both his parents from serious mental issues, his extreme sensitivity to cold, and his bouts of migraines, digestive issues, and mysterious attacks of severe depression, and you have a highly gifted individual of considerable potential on the one hand, contained, repressed, and caged by an environment that was closing in around him on every hand. Some might cite Lovecraft's occasional utterances of arrogance, bigotry, and extreme prejudices and conclude that all that constrained the fellow was for the good of humanity. There was another side to Lovecraft though, a sad and tragic side that might ultimately be a reflection upon all human endeavor? The possibility that everything the human race has fought for, worked for, dreamed of, and believed in, has been a lie might be Our truth too. In a world cringing beneath the possible threat of nuclear annihilation, world-wide environmental catastrophe, and an assault on nearly everything we have ever known of art, history, religion, and even human sexual identity, we might be becoming more open to Lovecraft's perspectives on life than people at any time before might ever have been? All has been for nothing. We might as well just have a party and celebrate our meaningless future in whatever few years we have left. Or not! (Exhibit 641)

Probably the most common letter H. P. Lovecraft used as the first letter for his fictional characters, places, and objects of arcane importance was the letter 'A'. The following are just some examples: Abdul Alhazred, author of the Necronomicon. His book bore the origional Arabic title 'Al Azif'. Arkham, Mass. Arkham was unquestionably the most frequently mentioned and important of all Lovecraft's invented place-names. 'Azathoth'. Azathoth was probably the first cosmic entity invented by HPL. Eventually he gets the title of 'The Vast Lord of All' prior to that he was sometimes called Chaos, capitalized or not. In the Fungi From Yuggoth sonnet, AZATHOTH, it certainly appears that he had become more than the "Daemon Sultan" he was now the Creator of all material existence. 'Professor Angell', named by Lovecraft for the very street he was born on in Providence, RI, Professor Angell was an important character in Lovecraft's famed tale, The Call of Cthulhu. 'Henry Akeley' was the victim of the Fungi from Yuggoth creatures in Lovecraft's, The Whisperer In Darkness. 'Zadok Allen', Allen was the town drunk and one of the few native inhabitants of Innsmouth Mass. who is fully human. He figures prominently in the Lovecraft masterpiece, The Shadow Over Innsmouth. He tells the narrator a horrible tale of the ill-fated town's history. 'Ammi Pierce', Ammi is an old man who befriends the narrator of THE COLOUR OUT OF SPACE. He survives at the end of the story, but it is suggested that he may not be alive for long! 'Dr. Henry Armitage', Stalwart librarian at Miskatonic University. He is one of a group of men who work to destroy Wilbur Whateley's monsterous and invisible 'twin' brother in THE DUNWICH HORROR. There are other examples of names and characters in Lovecraft's fiction beginning with the letter 'A', but you get the idea! (Exhibit 640)